Meant To Be
by butterflygurl2468
Summary: Eli and Clare have been best friends since the small ages of two and three. What if Clare is tired of Eli not knowing she loves him? Will he feel the same? Everyone seems to think they are meant to be. Maybe they are? One thing for sure, Clare is tired of keeping it a secret from Eli. Not really good at summaries for this one. Its a one-shot!


_**Meant To Be**_

It was a warm day in New York. The birds were chirping and everyone around them just seemed to be in a good mood. They were at the park celebrating that they had both just graduated college. Why were two grown adults celebrating at park you may ask? Well, when they were two and three years old that's how they met. Neither would leave the others side that day and even cried when their mothers said they had to leave. Each mother promised their child they would make a play date and that's what they did. They have been by each others side ever since.

During high school they really tested it. Eli, the boy in this friendship, had met another girl and started dating her about the same time Clare, the girl in this friendship, had met another boy that she started dating. Eli was in love and so was Clare. It was their first relationships and they got to experience it together. Of course the parents of both kids were upset cause they weren't dating each other. Each set of parents trusted the other child so much that they were allowed to spend the nights at each others house.

As they were dating their partners they never would have guessed what was going on. Clare had a purity ring meaning she wasn't having sex till she was married. Eli new about it and was proud of her for it. During sixth grade the kids made fun of her, so to help her out, even though he didn't believe in God, he went and got one of his own. Well, the two people they were dating, Julia and KC, at the time didn't like it. They thought if they went after the other it would make them give in. So, instead of getting Clare and Eli back, they were broken up with when they were caught cheating. Plans were ruined and with that they noticed something. Clare and Eli were meant to be they just didn't realize it.

As time went on they did date other people. Eli dated Imogen for a while till he realized she had done that to try and get Fiona. They all remained close friends, even though Imogen and Fiona were now going out. Clare had dated Jake for a while till he ended up becoming her step-brother. They were able to break up and now you wouldn't have ever guessed they had gone out.

Eli had decided after that to just focus on school so he could get into a good college. Clare, on the other hand, went on one blind date set up by her best friend Alli. They had set her up with Drew, and let's just say, after one date, she never wanted to even look at a boy again. It just wasn't worth it. She focused on school, just like Eli, and then a year later, when she graduated, she followed Eli to New York from Canada. She just couldn't live without her best friend.

"Eli, do you remember the first kiss we ever had?" Clare asked with a giggle. Eli just smiled but nodded his head.

"Yes I do. We had walked in on my parents kissing when I was seven and couldn't figure out what was so great about kissing someone. We decided to try it and thought it was the grossest thing we'd ever done." Clare was laughing and Eli was watching her. She had become a very beautiful lady and they had been through so much together. The cheating, her parents' divorce, her mom getting remarried, finding the dead kid, even Eli getting diagnosed with bipolar, Clare having cancer, and even losing their best friend in a car wreck. They had been through it all. And that was only some of it. Eli would never admit it, but Clare was his first love. No matter how much she thought it was Julia it was actually her.

"What are you staring at?"

"Can i not just admire my beautiful best friend?" Clare blushed and Eli smirked. Only he could make her blush like that and he enjoyed every minute of it. He couldn't believe they were twenty two and twenty one. It just didn't seem real.

"Why must you insist on calling me beautiful?" Eli just smirked. Clare, at this point, was lying on Eli's legs as his back was rested against a tree.

"Because I let you call me handsome and it's only fair. Plus I'm only stating the truth." Clare rolled her eyes at his usual statement.

"Can you believe we just graduated college? Now it's time to get real jobs and before you know it we'll be finding people to marry and have kids with. I don't know if I'm ready for all that. I want kids, but I want them with someone I know real well and not just someone I've dated a year. You know?" Clare was trying to hint that she wanted all that with him. Yes, they were best friends, but she had always had a crush on Eli from the tender age of six. She just didn't say anything because she was scared to ruin their friendship. She had no idea Eli felt the same though.

"Yea I understand what you mean. Jake and Katie got it easy. They've been married for a year now, but they started dating back in high school. He married his high school sweetheart. I didn't have a high school sweetheart to marry." Eli looked at her sadly. He did have high school sweetheart. Well, more like a lifetime sweetheart. Clare nodded her head in understanding looking up at him. She had to look away cause at that moment she had an urge to kiss her best friend.

"You know, we always could marry each other? I mean we were so sure about that in ninth grade." She said with another giggle and he laughed. He remembered it.

"We had just broken up with Julia and K.C. and had decided if we were still single after graduating college we'd just marry each other." Clare nodded and it was silent. She loved it when it was silent like this. Nothing had to be said. They knew each other well. "What are you thinking about?"

"Our life. We've been there for each other just about all our life. What are we doing?" Clare said with a sigh. She was a grown woman who couldn't tell her best friend how she really felt. That was going to change right this moment.

"What are you talking about Clare?"

"We met at age two and three and practically said you're stuck with me to each other. Our mothers used to joke about us getting together. For heaven sakes you went and got a purity ring just so I wouldn't feel alone. Eli, I'm just going to come out and say it. I've been in love with you since we decided to see what kissing was like back those years ago. I didn't realize it til ninth grade, but didn't want to ruin our friendship." She said it all with one breath looking into his eyes. He dipped down and kissed her with so much passion.

He didn't care if she had just said she loved him. They had known each other long enough he could ask her.

He wanted to ask her.

He had to ask her.

It couldn't wait any longer.

"I love you to Blue Eyes. Will you marry me?" Clare sat there shocked.

"Isn't it a bit to early for marriage? We just said we loved each other." Eli just laughed. "I mean do you even have a ring?"

Eli pulled a ring out of his pocket.

Clare gasped.

"I've had this ring for you ever since I graduated high school. I knew in my heart we'd end up together, or at least I had hoped we would. And no Clare I don't think its a bit early because we've had all our life to get to know each other. That's what dating is for a couple. To get a chance to know the other, but we already do. We know more about each other than most couples should. I want to make a home with you. I want to have kids running around. What I want more than anything is for you to be the woman I come home to. I've loved you since our kiss at the small ages of six and seven. When we kissed, even though at the time I thought it was gross, I just knew you'd be the one I'd marry. I told my mom that the next day and she told me I'd be the luckiest guy ever to marry you. I agreed with her. So will you please make me the luckiest guy ever and marry me?"

By the end of his speech Clare was in tears. She nodded her head though. Of course she would marry Eli. Even when she was dating all those other guys he was the name she was writing on her notebooks.

He put the ring on her finger.

"Clare Goldsworthy. I like the sound of that name." Eli said and kissed her on the lips. She just smiled.

"I like the sound of that name too." Eli kissed her again. They had a lot to make up for. She may have thought they were rushing it but he knew they weren't. They had always been meant for each other. He couldn't see it any other way.

"Don't forget our four kids. Two little girls who look just like their Mommy." Eli said and Clare grinned loving the fact that he remembered.

"And two little boys who look just like their dad." Clare told him and he nodded his head. Clare leaned up and kissed him one more time. She then snuggled up to him. "The perfect little family." She mumbled.

"You got that right." Eli then flipped them so she was laying on the blanket beneath him. "Now we have a couple of years worth to make up on kisses." Clare giggled then her lips were attacked by Eli and she couldn't have been happier. She had nothing to worry about.

Her and Eli were mean to be after all.

**Hello lovely people! ((:**

**Here is a small one-shot that just kind of popped in my head. If there are any mistakes then I'm sorry!**

**I tired going through it and looking but my laptop is being dumb! :(**

**Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and I'll hopefully have another one shot coming out before long. One can hope!**

**Alright guys I'm gone!**

**Bye for now! ((:**


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